〜がたい gatai

〜がたい（gatai）means “hard to ~, difficult to ~”. Attaches to the masu-stem of a verb to mean that doing the action is psychologically or emotionally hard, almost impossible. Formation: V-ます + がたい

hard to ~, difficult to ~

N2

Formation

V-ます + がたい

Explanation

Attaches to the masu-stem of a verb to mean that doing the action is psychologically or emotionally hard, almost impossible. Often with verbs of perception/feeling like 信じる, 想像する, 理解する, 言う. It expresses subjective difficulty (one can hardly bring oneself to do it), not physical impossibility.

Examples

彼があんなことを言うなんて、信じがたい話だ。
かれがあんなことをいうなんて、しんじがたいはなしだ。
That he would say such a thing is a hard-to-believe story.
あの日の悲しみは、今でも言葉では表しがたい。
あのひのかなしみは、いまでもことばではあらわしがたい。
The sadness of that day is hard to express in words even now.

Note

Refers to subjective/psychological difficulty; for physical inability use 〜にくい. Common fixed forms: 信じがたい, 理解しがたい, 想像しがたい. Somewhat formal/written.

FAQ

〜がたい — what does it mean and how is it used?

hard to ~, difficult to ~. Attaches to the masu-stem of a verb to mean that doing the action is psychologically or emotionally hard, almost impossible. Often with verbs of perception/feeling like 信じる, 想像する, 理解する, 言う. It expresses subjective difficulty (one can hardly bring oneself to do it), not physical impossibility.

〜がたい — how do you form it?

V-ます + がたい

〜がたい — any usage notes?

Refers to subjective/psychological difficulty; for physical inability use 〜にくい. Common fixed forms: 信じがたい, 理解しがたい, 想像しがたい. Somewhat formal/written.

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